Family Doesn't Mean Blood
by Dark Inu Fan
Summary: Phil the yeti has taken care of Jack in small ways ever since the boy first tried to invade the workshop. Now that he's a guardian, Phil can finally give Jack the one thing that they both have always wanted: a family.
1. Chapter 1

Yes, this story has already been posted under 'Season's Change', but more than one person asked for it to become its own little story. So, here we are! I'm going to be adding more chapters as well, so this is going to be longer than the origonal 3 chapters. Happy Reading! Don't forget to leave a comment, they fuel my creativity!

* * *

It had taken more years and coercing than North would like to admit to get Jack to celebrate Christmas at the pole with the rest of the guardians. It seemed like every year, Jack would have one excuse or another to either politely decline, say he had other plans or outright disappear when it came to the holiday. North couldn't say that he was able to try too hard either, seeing how busy it was in the lead up to his annual trip around the world. But whenever he would bring up the subject, it almost seemed like a light would go out behind Jack's crystalline blue eyes. They would dull with one look or another before he would turn away with a smirk and a practiced excuse. "Thanks North, but I promised Jamie that I'd pop in and see what he got." Or "Maybe next time, North. There's a storm blowing over the Rockies and if I don't watch it, one side's going to get six feet and the other won't get anything. Christmas isn't fun if people can't get home, y'know?"

"Just one hour." North spoke, one hand on Jack's shoulder so the sprite couldn't fly off before his proposal was for naught. "Then you can leave." The boy's eyes scanned the surrounding forest, somewhere in Germany, he believed, for any excuse to say no. North had managed to cover all his bases before tracking Jack across Europe. "Yeti will keep track of weather like during Christmas Eve and Jamie says hello and that you were planning on spending New Years with him. Christmas is for family, Jack. Please. Just one hour." North had crouched to be Jack's height, keeping eye contact even while the boy fought his fight or flight reflex.

One hour wasn't too bad. He wouldn't be able to ruin too many of their celebrations if it was only an hour. He would even borrow a watch from Jamie and set the timer so that he wouldn't overstay his welcome. "One hour. That's it. I'm still going to leave if something comes up though. Weather doesn't stop just because I'm not there." Jack worried his lip for a moment. "Do I need to bring anything?"

North gave Jack the widest grin he had seen since his induction into the guardians several years ago. "No, just you. There will be small gift exchange, but you don't have to bring anything." North dismissed, "You finally joining us for celebration is gift enough, yes?"

Not looking at the fatherly figure, Jack nodded. His fringe hid the guilty look that crossed his face and churned his stomach. Jack usually stayed well away from any holidays since that Easter where he practically helped Pitch nearly destroy Belief. Bunny wasn't the only holiday spirit that tended to growl if Jack darkened their doorstep. O'Lantern tended to leave Jack with scratches if he went to frost the carved pumpkins and even Valentino had waved a lead arrow in his direction more than once. Jack assumed that North would have the same protective streak and so it was easier to avoid messes altogether than to attempt to beg forgiveness at the end of those razor-sharp sabers. "Yeah, I'll be there."

North accepted that answer with a smile and a nod. "Good. Do not be late, or I will send Bunny again, da?" The words were friendly enough, but Jack couldn't tell if there was a threat or if he was just imagining things. "We will see you in four days!" Jack nodded absently, glad that his skin was naturally pale, so his face paling further wasn't noticed by the ex-Cossack. He watched North disappear though the portal and collapsed, his head between his knees. Four days. Which meant that the winter solstice was the next day. He had lost track of the days once again and drew his nails across his scalp in a minor punishment. Mother would be furious if he didn't attend his duties on time. Hopefully he would be able to get everything done that he needed to before he was expected at the pole.

"Ok, no big deal, right? Just show up, smile and stay in the corner." Jack murmured to himself, allowing Wind to take him where he was needed. "Just don't touch anything and I won't get in trouble, right?" Its not like he meant to ruin everything he touched. And he had been meaning to give the gifts he had been making to the others eventually, so why not now? North did say that there was going to be a small gift exchange after all. Maybe he could sneak the presents under the main tree without getting caught. They couldn't yell at him if they didn't know who they were from, right? In, out, be invisible. He was used to playing the invisible card. Maybe he could even show up a little earlier and harass Phil to get the presents wrapped properly so that they would look like the others? Yeah, that's what he would do.

Nodding to himself, Jack let his thoughts about the first Christmas he had attended in over three hundred years slip from his mind for more important matters.

Three and a half days later, Jack snuck into the pole, his hands around a ratty blue rucksack that had been stitched up more than once and had certainly seen better days. Grinning to himself, Jack found just the yeti that he was looking for. "Hey, Phil, think you can do me a favor?" The yeti looked Jack up and down before raising an eyebrow in question. "Yeah, I know. Not about that." Jack dismissed the Yeti's look. "Its about this," he held up the rucksack. "You think I can get some help wrapping presents for the others without letting the Big Guy know?"

Taking a peek inside the bag, Phil nodded and gestured for Jack to follow. In short order, they entered the wrapping room, where ribbons and bows were literally flying across the room as they were tossed from table to table by the elves. Along one wall was a display of at least a thousand designs of wrapping paper, ranging from solid colors to complicated designs and even a few textured papers. On pegs were almost as many ribbons and various present accessories, from simple twine to… was that silk and velvet ribbon? There was even what looked like small drawers containing everything from small ornaments to feathers and pine needles. Muttering something about finding a workstation, Phil gestured for Jack to find what he wanted to use and find him. "Uh… right."

It took a good fifteen minutes for Jack to scan the wide selection and decide on what he wanted to use for each of the presents. It wasn't enough just to use paper, and since the opportunity presented itself, he wanted to go all-out in a way that he never got the chance to. He found an empty basket and filled it with odds and ends to accompany the four large rolls of paper he thought were perfect. Phil managed to secure an entire table for their little project in a corner and Jack gladly offloaded his materials onto the empty side, displaying them for the Yeti's perusal. After a quick look, Phil nodded and gestured to the bag, which sat abandoned on the opposite corner.

"Yeah, I guess its kinda hard to wrap presents if they're still in the bag, aren't they?" Jack smirked, which ended up earning a light cuff upside the head. "Ok, ok, geez, can't take a joke, can you?" Reaching into the sack, Jack brought out the first item, which was a coil of matte polished black leather. "Do you think North will like it? I didn't know what to make him so…" Jack made a helpless gesture and offered Phil to inspect the object. The Yeti ran his hands over the object, twisting it this way and that before nodding and coiling it up once again and finding the appropriate sized box before shaking his head and pulling out a miniaturized hat box instead, just big enough for the leather coil to fit inside comfortably. Phil explained that North would keep it in the hat box when he wasn't using it, so it was good to give him one to go with it, instead of a box that would be thrown away. Wrapping it was the tricky part and Phil didn't mind showing Jack several ways to measure the correct amount of paper and almost as many ways to wrap the box. He could wrap the top separate from the bottom, so that the paper wouldn't get torn, or he could wrap it all together. In the end, Phil was the one that did the actual wrapping, choosing to keep the lid and box separate so that North wouldn't have to ruin the decorations.

The 'tag' was where Jack truly got creative. While the paper was a red and black square pattern reminiscent of North's tattoos, Jack chose a bright green silk ribbon with two stripes of gold running its length to tie the top on, secured by what amounted to a confection of pine needles, silk leaves and a pinecone frosted silver on the edges. The tag only said 'North' in Jack's most elegant calligraphy. Phil pointed out that Jack needed to sign the 'from' also and Jack shook his head in response. "I don't want them to know its from me… Just in case." It was hard to see Phil's frown in concern, but Jack could see it. He had a feeling that he'd be talking to the Yeti some time soon. When they weren't both busy with their duties. For now, Phil let it go with only a brief half hug and a pat on the head before gesturing for the next present.

Pulling out a carved box next, he passed it across the table. Phil quickly found out it was a lid that was slotted into place instead of using a hinge, which for the recipient would be a good thing. As if the beautifully carved box wasn't enough, inside were four brushes that matched the box's motif. Sliding the lid back into place, Phil asked one word.

"Yeah. Bunny's always painting, so I figured they must wear out eventually, right?" Jack shrugged, pulling the wrapping paper that he had picked for the Pooka closer. While Phil fitted the box into a slightly larger one, he joked that he knew another Yeti that would appreciate some new brushes as well. It seemed that she was always repainting the toys and maybe some new tools would change her luck. Jack shrugged and filed it away to think about later. This one Jack carefully wrapped himself, with Phil's close guidance. The paper was actually a blue-gray printed with silver swirls that honestly reminded Jack of some of his frost patterns. It wasn't exactly Easter themed, but sometimes a little variety was nice. Instead of ribbon, Jack used a rainbow of embroidery flosses, tying a simple, but colorful, series of twists and knots that would force Bunny to either cut through the entire thing or untie the main knot, which was hidden under a giant pink silk flower that Jack thought was a hibiscus.

Humming, Phil studied the flower for a moment before going over to the wall and pulling down a book with a shrug. Knowing that the gift was for Bunny, Phil wondered if Jack wanted to attempt the Flower Language since he was going to put a giant flower on the gift anyway. After a quick flip-through, where certain flowers caught his attention and he read the paragraph about them, Jack decided to switch out the obnoxious flower to one that was still bright but had a clearer meaning. Wishing for 'new beginnings' sounded about right. Every time Jack thought of the Pooka, he thought of '68 and how things could have been better, and even before what happened. Digging through the silk flowers, Jack managed to find a Daffodil and wove the stem through the network of floss so that it wouldn't fall off. Attached to the stem was the egg-shaped tag (the only thing actually Easter themed on the whole thing) with 'Bunny' written on one side.

'Who next?' Phil seemed to say with only a flick of a wrist, to which Jack pulled out a small gold-on-gold embroidered velvet bag. In response, Phil pulled every gold item that Jack had brought to the table, including textured gold foil, gold-painted leaves and a small circular tag edged in gold. Jack pulled an item from the velvet bag and held it up for inspection. After pulling out a soft stopper, Jack shook it lightly and the golden bell rang out clearly. Phil couldn't help but to laugh. That's just what the small man needed so he wouldn't have to accost elves to get the others' attention. Why has no one else thought of it before? And It had a stopper so that it would never ring by accident. "Do you think Sandy will like it?" Phil nodded with a grin before asking if Jack was sure he wanted to put this one in a box. He could just tie on a ribbon and call it good. Sandy wouldn't mind. "No, I want to wrap it. And its foil instead of the paper, so it's a little quieter to unwrap." Phil nodded, understanding what Jack was thinking. As they wrapped Sandy's, Phil showed Jack how to curl the ribbons and ended up with a pile of curls in five different shades of gold that was almost larger than the box itself and spilled over all four sides. It even completely obscured the little golden tag reading 'Sandy' tied to the base. Nobody would dare speak against Phil's new ponytail decoration, which consisted of white, blue and green curls. And he would proudly wear it for the rest of the season, citing that he just 'forgot' to take it out.

Last was an item which Phil thought was what holding a cloud would be like. The only weight to the thing was the embroidery, which was very dense around every delicately sewn edge and almost nonexistent in the middle, except for a simple repeating pattern of molars in gold thread. Phil was a lost cause when it came to the fabric-based gifts, but even he could see the amount of time and effort put into the design. He warbled in pain, asking Jack why this was on the bottom of a dirty sack under all those heavy objects, getting crushed while it should have already been carefully stored in a box, with tissue paper! Shrugging, Jack took the thing and laid it out so that Phil could see the entire design before starting to fold it up. Slapping Jack's hands away, Phil packed it in a large, flat box himself, with tissue paper between the folds so that nothing would happen to snag or wrinkle. (Honestly, it was a miracle it didn't wrinkle already, balled up and shoved in the sack as it was) He had already finished wrapping the box with paper printed with gold and silver mandala with a purple background before Jack was able to get in a word. "You know, I'm still not happy with it. What if Tooth doesn't like it? She already has her feathers, so what would she do with it anyway? Maybe I should just give her a pouch for teeth and coins or a new belt like North. Or an ice sculpture." Phil cut off Jack with a snort. If Queen Toothiana doesn't like something that obviously had a lot of thought and love put into it, then Phil would take it and display it down in the sewing room for people who would appreciate it better. And if the whole 'Guardian of Fun' thing didn't work out, the sewing Yeti would be more than happy to give Jack a job.

"I'm not that great Phil. I just did that because I was bored." At that, Phil's look was drier than a desert wasteland. If this was boredom, what would it look like if Jack were to put in actual effort? Sliding the present across the table, Jack set to decorating it. First, he used a green 3-inch ribbon with a paisley print, then a one inch ribbon in the middle that was a swirled blue and gold. The name tag was attached to what turned out to be a broach made of pearls, rhinestones and a peacock feather.

Looking at the four gifts, Phil nodded in satisfaction. Even if the boxes were empty, the wrapping was gift enough for royalty. Phil only wished that Jack would be brave enough to claim their ownership eventually. Taking the four presents and handing Jack back his bag, Phil gestured for the boy to follow. "Nah, I'm ok. Thanks anyway." Jack gently brushed off, stuffing his spare hand into his pocket. "I've got stuff to do before the party and I'm sure that I can trust you to make sure those get where they need to. See ya next time Phil!" And with that, Jack disappeared, ready to find the nearest unlocked window to escape from. He may have been welcomed, even encouraged to stay, at the pole, but he always felt better as he was leaving. And he would need every ounce of courage and peace that he could find to not outright skip Christmas once again.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Jack found himself standing outside the Pole's main doors, staring. Should he knock, just go in, or should he do what he usually did and come in around the back? Suddenly, the doors opened, startling Jack into the air and the Yeti into taking a step back with a yell. "Oh, it's just you Merle." Said Yeti raised its brow and stepped aside, allowing Jack to float in and land. "I decided to try something different today, since its Christmas and all." Jack couldn't help but to look around at the sudden calm after the frantic rush of the past two months. "Is the Big Guy back yet?" Merle warbled out an answer before calling across the workshop loud enough that the Yeti down in the stables could probably hear.

Jack pouted. "What was that for? I thought you got the memo. I was invited and _no you didn't need__**toget**_\- oh, hey Phil! Looking spiffy." Jack chirped, in which his response was to be picked up and slung over one broad shoulder. "You know I can walk, right?" To which Jack got a grunt and a nod. "Yeah, I guess it is a bit of a tradition and _no_…" Jack pouted, "I'm not trying to avoid the others. I would have made it up there… eventually." Chuffing, Phil let Jack squirm around so that he was perched more comfortably on his shoulder. It didn't matter to the Yeti, since he carried heavier things on a regular basis. "And I am not trying to waste time so I don't have to spend the entire time up there." Phil couldn't give the child a reprimanding look, but a light pinch to his ankle conveyed the same message.

"So… What are you and the others doing for your celebration?" Jack asked, looking around in wonder at the virtually abandoned workshop. There was the odd Yeti or Elf, but nothing near what the room's usual occupation level was. "It's so quiet." A firm hand on his ankle stopped Jack from flying off to create general chaos in the quiet. For as much as his season and element embodied _Peace_ and _Quiet_, the boy was anything but, Phil mused. It actually was when the boy was quiet that Phil had learned to worry. He would either be plotting mischief of some sort that would take weeks to clean up after, or had sunk into his memories. Given the two, Phil would rather deal with the trouble_maker_ than the troubled _mind_. Troublemakers were predictable and generally easy to bounce back from. Phil had remembered a time actually not that far distant where the boy had simply… stopped talking for nearly forty years and had practically given up testing their security for thirty of the said years. He had actually gotten so worried about the boy, that he signed a leave of absence and spent an entire winter tracking the youth down (and getting photographed, much to his surprise when the book came out). When he finally found the boy, Jack was contemplating a shard of ice that had a disturbing pink sheen along one edge. Immediately, Phil had brought the child to the pole's yeti village and set him up in a room they carved out of the ice. Jack had been their guest for nearly a year, until his scars had faded enough that Phil was comfortable leaving him on his own.

Answering 'the usual' with a shrug, Phil set Jack on his feet, keeping one large hand on the boy nape. It was a comfort and a way to make sure that he wouldn't run off when the elevator ascended. He made sure that Jack knew he was invited to join, only _after_ he was done celebrating with the other guardians, not instead of. And that no matter what happened, Jack had to stop by to tell Phil that he was leaving. At the door to the room that the others were gathered in, Phil let Jack go and gently brushed some frost from the boy's hair, telling him that he would come by later with a drink and check to see how things were going.

Getting a nod, Phil turned Jack around and gently pushed the boy into the lion's den, closing the door behind him like the clap of a gavel.

"Jack! You made it!" North turned, in one hand was a snifter of brandy. He raised the glass in welcome and spread his hands as if he would give the boy a hug. "Welcome! In, come in and take seat! We were just about to open presents." Nodding mutely, Jack perched on the first chair's arm, not committing to staying, but not immediately hiding in the window seat either.

"Nice daks, you didn't have to dress up on account of us, Frostbite." Bunny spoke up from his couch next to the fire, his own glass of fruit wine clutched in one paw.

Wincing, Jack looked at his attire. Instead of his usual hoodie and tattered deerskin trousers, Jack was in a crisp white linen shirt with a powder blue waistcoat, mostly hidden under a sky blue tailcoat with royal accents. Storm grey wool trousers replaced tattered leather leggings, smartly cuffed to hide the wear on the hem. "Yeah, I guess not." Jack snorted, shedding his tailcoat and unbuttoning his waistcoat. "Now if only I could convince Mother to let me wear what I want to. Since I'm her _Herald of Winter_, I guess I'm supposed to dress the part or something. It took me forever to convince her that a glorified noose wasn't necessary. How do you get away with it?" He asked, sliding down to sit in the seat with his legs spilling over the arm.

"Well, I think you look handsome." Tooth chirped, flying over and smoothing down his collar.

Bunny snorted, taking a drink. "I'm not one of her little pets. And if she tried something, I'm not above setting her in her place. I'm Easter, mate, not just spring."

Sandy put up a picture of a top hat and a clock, to which Jack tilted his head. "When did I start wearing this, or how long do I have to wear it?" Jack tried to clarify, to which Sandy gestured either question. Plucking at the vest (and taking a peek at the digital watch Jamie lent him), Jack shrugged. "I've only had the coat about a hundred years. And Mother first tried to make me wear it all year, but then I was getting leaf dyes on it, so I convinced her to only make me wear it for the season."

"Ah, yes, here we go! First gift!" North crawled out from under the tree, dropping a blue-wrapped box onto Jack's lap. "Winter Solstice was three days ago, was it not?"

Jack nodded, only his surprise making him hold the gift before it fell to the floor. "Yeah. The start of winter. Mother won't let me wear my hoodie until the spring equinox. So until then…" Jack shrugged, sitting up properly and stared at the box, plucking at the curled ribbon absently. Looking closer, he realized that it wasn't a silver swirl pattern, but a very curly print of the words 'Happy Birthday'. "Um, North… I think somebody used the wrong paper."

"Hmm?" North plucked the gift from Jack's lap and stared close at the design before giving it back. "No, is correct paper. Says 'Happy Birthday'." The room seemed to literally freeze as the air was sucked out by the other three guardians. "Birthday is Solstice, is it not?"

"Ah." Jack looked around and then back down. "Yeah, it is… Kinda. I mean, it is the day the Moon pulled me out of the water. But that's not really that special." Jack managed to look up at North just in time to see his shoulder twitch like he had been physically struck and something resembling sad sympathy in his glacier eyes. "I thought we were here for Christmas. Don't let me get in the way." He said, shifting the gift beside him on the chair, nearly trying to hide it as if it would be taken away.

"Oh, Sweet-tooth, you're never in the way." Tooth quickly recovered, flying over and perching on the chair arm that Jack had abandoned. It pained her that she had repeated those words more than once in the time that she had known the frost sprite. "If you want, we can celebrate your human birthday. Or even when you became a guardian, if you like. Whenever you want." Sandy nodded enthusiastically, a sand party hat perched jauntily on one hair spike while he waved around a noisemaker. Above his head floated a cupcake with a single lit candle.

"As long as it's not actually _on_ Easter, she'll be Apples." Bunny agreed from his couch, knowing better than to crowd the kid.

"Yes. We will talk about this later. For now, cake, then presents!" North crowed, letting Sandy through with a single cupcake piled with a ridiculous amount of blue-tinted frosting. A candle scrounged from somewhere stood proudly on top, the little flame flickering.

Jack eyed the flame warily, but Sandy didn't push. "You guys sure? I mean, we can do this later. Like after New Years." He looked around at the others.

"Yes, we are sure." North was backed by enthusiastic nods from Tooth and Sandy. "We are all together, why not celebrate now?"

"Blow out the candle Jack!" Tooth clapped her hands enthusiastically, and Sandy nodded, holding out the cupcake. A caricature of a shooting star floated over his head. 'Make a wish.' He silently reminded.

Looking around once more and not finding an out, Jack closed his eyes and blew out the candle to cheers and clapping. A sharp prick on his cheek told him that Baby Tooth had even given him a kiss. Opening his eyes, Jack saw Sandy's knowing smile as he passed off the cupcake to be de-candled. The golden man gave Jack a kiss on the forehead and a nod. Wish received and understood. And off the former wishing star went; to grab his own treat to enjoy. In short order, Jack was handed a plate with his cupcake, the candle off to the side, still covered in frosting.

It took precious minutes of waiting and silent prompting before realizing that the others were waiting for Jack to take the first bite of the sugary confection before digging into their own chosen treats. Taking a swipe of icing flecked with wax was all the butterflies in his stomach could handle, but it was good enough to satisfy the others into joining him in eating.

"Now," North spoke in a conspiring tone, as if imparting a wonderful secret, "time to open present, da?" Seeing no way around it, having become the center of attention where he had wanted to hide in a corner, Jack finally took up the gift that North had handed him earlier. Carefully untying the ribbon, Jack set it aside to work off the tape, trying not to rip the paper.

"Oh, great, you're one of _those_ people." Bunny rolled his eyes, crossing his arms with an amused huff. Jack hid a grin and started working on the tape even more carefully than before. True, he could simply freeze the glue and pull the tape off, but where was the fun in that? Eventually, Jack did actually get the paper open, revealing a book of classic poetry with hand-drawn illustrations. There were several ribbons between the pages and when he turned to one of the marked pages, he came across a drawing of one of his windows, painted in frost, and on the facing page, a short poem:

Someone painted pictures on my  
Windowpane last night —  
Willow trees with trailing boughs  
And flowers, frosty white…

(Jack Frost by Helen Bayley Davis)

Turning to another bookmark, was a drawing of a field covered with snow:

The Frost looked forth one still, clear night,

And whispered, "Now I shall be out of sight;

So, through the valley, and over the height,

In silence I'll take my way.

I will not go on like that blustering train,

The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,

That make such a bustle and noise in vain,

But I'll be as busy as they!"…

(Jack Frost By Hanna F Gould)

Figuring that the rest of the bookmarked pages held poems about himself, Jack smiled, resolving to sit down and read through the entire book as soon as he had time. North, or likely one of the Yeti, had spent quite some time, compiling the poems that were few and far apart and took the gift to heart. He couldn't think of the last time that someone had actually dedicated time to do something for him. Looking up at North, Jack couldn't quite form the words, but the elder man understood them anyway. With a nod, he ducked back to the tree, grabbing the first gift that he could reach.

"Now, gifts for everyone." North grinned, taking his role to pass out the gifts with the greatest importance, reading off the tags like a herald would make an announcement as they were passed around the room. "Bunny, from me."

"Ta, North." Bunny held up a large bottle of pearlescent dust to add to the egg dyes, tied with a simple ribbon.

"Sandy." North held up three small bags of dream sand, keeping the fourth for himself. The dreamweaver gave Jack, Tooth and Bunny their shares, and then settled back with his eggnog. The small bags were distributed with such an air of normalcy and expectation that Jack wouldn't be remiss to assume that it was Sandy's standard gift to the others, though no less welcome.

"Jack." North held up another gift, this one nestled in a wicker basket woven in blue and white, and held it out for the boy to take.

Looking up from his new book, Jack's brows scrunched in confusion. "But, I already have a gift." He said, tapping the cover, careful not to cover it with frost.

"Yes, but these are Christmas presents. That is birthday present. Big difference." North held out the basket again, holding it by the handle. "And this is from Bunny." Warily, Jack finally took the basket, looking inside. While he almost expected the plastic 'Easter grass', he was surprised by a layer of glittery fake snow instead. Nestled in the middle were no less than a dozen winter-themed eggs. Taking one out, he inspected the frost design carefully.

"If you don't like 'em, mate, I'm sure the elves would gladly relieve you of the burden." Bunny stated simply, swirling his goblet and looking at Jack from the corner of his eye. Balking, Jack pulled the entire basket closer, defending it from even the thought of elves stealing them. "That's what I thought. Didn't know what flavors you like, so I made a selection. Tell me which ones to make again and I might have a basket for you for Easter." He enjoyed the mix of disbelief, joy and hope on the child's face. "Maybe." He couldn't help but to add in before giving North his attention.

"Tooth, the usual, I presume?" North held up four cloth bags with snap-clasps keeping them closed.

Nodding, Tooth grinned. "Of course! Nicolas St. North, you know that you need to change tooth brushes every three to four months, but you never listen to me. This way I can at least make sure you, all of you, change brushes at least once a year." Jack didn't know whether that was just Tooth being Tooth, or a threat that he should start actually _brushing_ his teeth when Tooth was around to check that he had. As surreptitiously as he could, Jack ran his tongue over his teeth, making sure they were up to Tooth's standard. She quickly distributed the dental kits then dove under the tree for a small, flattish package. Handing it to Jack, Tooth gave her widest grin, but wrung her hands with nerves. "And this is from me as well."

Expecting a comb or something, Jack was genuinely surprised when he pulled out a doll-sized blue coat with white trim instead. "Um… Thanks. I guess."

Bobbing slightly side to side, Tooth frowned for a moment before immediately brightening up again. "I guess I should be clearer. This is just as much for Baby Tooth as you." Picking up the small coat, Jack turned it in his hands, looking as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle. "You see, none of my fairies have names since they're really just parts of me. But you, Jack… Names have power. Baby, could you come here?" Tooth gestured to her mini, whom immediately landed in her open palm. With her other hand, she gently plucked another of her fairies from the air.

She watched as knowledge slowly bloomed across Jack's face. "Baby. I'm so, so sorry." He spoke, seeing just how much a difference a name had made between Baby and her sister. Absently rubbing the small coat, Jack thought he understood. "I didn't want to separate you from your family." Baby shook her head, squeaking her disagreement with a smile. The fairy stood tall, almost a head taller than her sister and much bluer. Her beak was also about an inch shorter and sturdier looking, with a slight curve at the very tip.

"You aren't Jack." Tooth spoke gently, handing Baby over. "She already spends much of her time with you, enough that as she's growing, she started taking on more traits that are better suited for colder climates. I actually noticed it a few years ago, but I didn't want to say anything until Baby wanted to. Earlier this year, she finally asked me and I gave her my blessing." Gesturing to the coat, Tooth smiled. "Will you take care of my Baby Tooth, Jack Frost?"

Gaping at the face of responsibility, Jack finally turned to the small fairy. Really, she wasn't near as small as she used to be. She was actually now taller than his hand was long."Its cold, Baby. I can't keep you warm." Baby shrugged, fluffing up her feathers. "And I can't promise that I can always keep you safe." He got a mean jab into the flesh at the base of his thumb, drawing a drop of blood and a flinch, accompanied with a defiant chirp. "Sometimes you'll get bored." Baby trilled, giving Jack a look saying that she was getting bored with this conversation, which brought a small smile to Jack's face. "If you ever want to leave and go back to Tooth, don't let me stop you, ok?" Jack finally acquiesced, handing Baby the small coat, which she happily took and quickly put on. "Heh, you look like a little bell. My little blue bell Baby Tooth." Holding his finger out, Jack let her grab it and he swung her gently. "Ding…ding…ding." Which made them both burst into laughter.

Flying up, Baby first gave Jack a kiss on the cheek, then Tooth, and flew back to Jack, perching in one of her usual spots. "I'll take care of her Tooth."

"I know you will." Tooth gave them both motherly looks. "You've taken wonderful care of her so far, I don't see why that would change now."

Jack nodded, carefully cradling Baby. "Thank you."

Letting Baby and Jack sit and play, North purposefully passed over Jack's next gift to pull out his gift from Bunny. "Ah, thank you Bunny." He nodded, pulling out a red and black basket with a large jar of fruit preserves with a teasing grin. "No more chocolate for me to try to imitate?"

Bunny snorted and rolled his eyes. "You and I both know the reason for that, mate." He tilted his glass in North's direction and took a sip, savoring the taste.

"Too bad." North smirked. "Was this close to stealing recipe. Would have been best caper to date! Sandy, for you." Turning to the dreamweaver, North held up a rolled piece of cloth, held together by a wide golden ribbon. Unrolling the fabric revealed it to be a quilt done in warm colors with black accents, depicting twilight and a sea of stars. A shooting star flew over his head and a grin passed over his face as Sandy wrapped himself up in the quilt, enjoying it immensely.

Unnoticed by the occupants of the room, Phil slipped into the room with a tray balanced with a plate of treats and a frosted mug. Placing it on the side table next to Jack's chair was what pulled the boy's attention. Leaning back, Jack gave the Yeti an upside down grin. "Oh, hey Phil." Turning so that he was facing the Yeti, Jack tucked his feet up onto the seat and looked at the tray. Offering the mug to take, Phil asked how Jack was doing, quietly enough not to pull attention from the others. Tilting his head in a side to side motion and taking a sip of the cold drink, Jack carefully thought of his answer. "I'm ok.

"And for you, Tooth, a new pillow for your nest."

"Oh, Its lovely North, thank you!"

"I mean…" Jack looked at the others. "I'm not completely ok. I'm getting there. But this is nice. Its something I can get used to." Phil nodded, giving Jack a pat on the head.

Wishing that he didn't have to, Phil pulled out the last report he had gotten from Maurice, who had taken weather duty for the night. "Yeah, I figured." Jack tenderly touched his temple like he had a headache. "I was hoping that system would hold out a few more hours before I had to deal with it. But if I don't do something now, it'll change into something nasty."

At this point, Jack and Phil had caught Bunny's ear. "Ya knew that you were coming to the party tonight, ya boofhead, so why did you make a storm if you couldn't be there to control it?"

Drowning his growl in his drink, Jack took a moment to reign in his retort. "I don't make the storms, Kangaroo. I just make sure that they don't get too bad." He said with a sour look. "I don't have near the amount of power that you seem to think I do. My name's _Frost_ for a reason, not _Blizzard_." Besides, Blizzard Bill just didn't have the same ring to it as Jack Frost.

"What do you need to do, Jack?" Tooth asked, genuinely curious. They had never actually gotten Jack to speak about his duties beyond 'Snowballs and Fun-times' that he was so adamant to be associated with.

Humming in though, Jack gestured to his staff with a curious look on his face. "What does my staff remind you of?" Tooth and North looked genuinely confused, looking at the other for an answer, but only getting a shrug in return. Sandy was closer, popping up a picture of Little Bo Peep, complete with full hoop skirt and a little golden lamb by her feet.

"It's a shepherd's crook." Bunny stated like it was obvious. He had seen enough shepherds while he was on Easter runs to know what the stick was for.

Jack nodded. "Clouds are a lot like sheep." He spoke, his eyes half-closing in a memory, which he quickly pushed through. "If you leave them in one field too long, they'll eat up all the resources. Same thing with clouds. Sometimes the storm systems won't move on their own, and when they don't, they build up and get worse. All I really need to do is get them moving where they should be before something ends up buried in snow. That's all."

"Oh." Tooth nodded, pretending to understand. "If you need to go take care of that storm, we understand."

"Yes, what is phrase? 'Work before pleasure'?" North stood up and gestured for Jack to shoo, "We will be here when you return."

At that, Jack bit his lip and his eyes slid to Phil, who nodded. "I usually like to be in the storm itself, since its easier, but I can control the storm remotely. It would be faster that way." Gesturing out the door, Phil said that Jack could use the mini globe that they used to track the weather. "Yeah, that'd be great." Standing up, Jack grabbed a few of the treats on the tray and his staff. "Lead the way. The sooner I deal with this, the better."

Halfway to the door, Jack looked at Baby Tooth. "Are you coming or staying with your Mama?" The little fairy only had a moment of hesitation and a nod from her mother before she nestled herself in Jack's hair. Laughing, Jack handed her half of one of the treats, which turned out to be quartered slices of pan-fried toast. It had the sweetness of butter but none of the sugar found in the usual North Pole fare of cookies and sweets. "Ok. Just remember to hold on tight this time. We don't want to accidentally send you off to Canada again on a stray gust." There was a story there, but Jack wouldn't share.


	3. Chapter 3

Hyrrg! Apparently, it doesn't want to be spit out in only two short chapters. This is what I get for not sitting down and actually doing stuff for a while: Writer's backup. Too many ideas, not enough space.

First Christmas 3

In the shadow of North's Globe of Belief is a short hallway, leading to a room with one of the North Pole's lesser known treasures. It is a 'miniature' globe. That being said, it was still over three meters tall from base to crown. Some of the yeti would argue that this was the important globe, and the other was practically a glorified decoration. As far as North knew or cared, this smaller model didn't exist. And if it did exist, it was because the yeti had made it in a fit of boredom that spanned a decade's worth of post-Christmas vacations. To Jack Frost, it was one of the most beautiful blending of magic and technology that he had ever had the privilege to touch. Ceramic tiles of blue, white, green and brown made the perfect surface, with each tile being less than a centimeter squared. The tiles weren't flat either. There were slight dips and bumps corresponding to the proper geographical features with an accuracy that honestly scared Jack the first time he saw it. And the best part was, it showed the weather absolutely everywhere from the poles to the equator. Perfect replica clouds swirled and moved around the globe, showing exactly where their full-sized duplicates floated around the Earth.

Reaching the weather room, Jack waved to Maurice, who gave a grunt in return as the yeti moved between various weather maps. Touching the cool ceramic tiles, Jack took a moment to admire the pinnacle of yeti craftsmanship before getting to work. Taking to hovering on a breeze so that he could see the northern hemisphere better, Jack tracked down the worrying storm, watching the clouds slowly turn and twist in an angry gray of impending blizzard. "Thanks for calling me down." Maurice nodded, holding out a weather map for Jack to take, sliding his comically small spectacles back into place. "I was hoping that the storm would hold off for a few more hours, but it looks like it got caught up in a jet stream eddy and now it's just building up until I can push it along." The yeti didn't know whether Jack was speaking to the air or to him, so he nodded along anyway, watching Jack practically dance between the chart and globe, studying the patterns.

"Maybe if I move that there… No. Or maybe Wind- No." Biting his lip in concentration, Jack swirled his finger through the miniature clouds, trying out different techniques, moving them this way and that, pushing the wind higher and lower, slower and faster, until he the clouds started reacting like he wanted them to. If only he could make his weather react using the globe, it would make things so much easier.

Taking a look around the whole globe one more time, Jack nodded in satisfaction. He would only have to focus on the one storm system. The others could take care of themselves unless something major came along within the next few hours. "Hey Maurice, thanks again!" The yeti waved Jack off, pretending he didn't just spend the entire time internally praying that the boy wouldn't mess with any of the weather pattern spells permanently. "Last chance, Baby, you staying inside where it's warm, or coming with me?" The yeti didn't hear the response as the door to the room shut behind Jack. Counting to ten to make sure the boy was out of range; Maurice turned his radio back on. '_…Könnt ihr mich hören? Wir hören dich Könnt ihr mich sehen? Wir sehen dich…'_

Jack poked his head through with a knowing grin. "Rammstein oder? sehr schön." (Rammstein huh? Very nice.) And with a laugh, he left, missing the yeti hitting his head against the desk with a groan of embarrassment.

Making it back to the room where the others were celebrating a successful Christmas, Jack breezed through to the massive bay window, only pausing for a moment to chug some of the drink that Phil had brought earlier and grab a few more of the toast 'cookies', this time handing a whole one to Baby Tooth. Glancing at North, Jack shrugged into his tailcoat. "Hey, North, is it ok for me to use one of your windows? Thanks." Not bothering to wait for North to respond, Jack slammed his hand against the glass, coating the entire thing in frost. The familiar sound of ice crackling calmed and focused Jack somewhat as he stepped back to watch the entire surface become covered in his delicate frozen signature.

First, he drew a life-size stick figure of a girl and breathed life into her. Holding his hand out, the frost form stepped off of the window with Jack's help. What had been a glorified stick figure had become a little girl about four years old with square-cut bangs swept to the side and a simple dress with a diamond pattern around the bottom hem. On her feet were a pair of old-fashioned ice skates. "Watch them for me, can you do that?" He asked softly and the frost child nodded eagerly. They smiled at each other and Jack delicately took her hands and led her in a simple figure eight pattern, tracing a path in frost for her to follow. After a few circuits, Jack let her go and she continued on with a wide grin and a mute giggle.

Next, Jack drew a bunny and brought it to life, sending it bounding over to the real Bunny to circle his ears. Bunny tried to catch the creature, but as soon as his paw brushed its frozen fur, it exploded in a puff of blue-tinted snowflakes, startling the party. "Don't touch her, please. I'll know if you do." He stated, not looking at the elder guardians as he gestured to the girl, so he wouldn't see their confused expressions. He didn't want to talk about his actions quite yet. If he didn't look at them, he could pretend that he didn't have to explain anything.

"Baby." Jack crouched on the bay seat and pushed the window open, holding his free hand out for Baby Tooth. The duo quickly slipped out and Jack closed the window, frosting the outside as well. "You draw the ram; I'll do all the sheep, ok?" Baby chirped in acknowledgment and started drawing in a corner with her tiny fingers, able to get much more detail than Jack's basic drawings. His sheep actually looked more like cotton ball clouds with upside-down eggs for heads and a pair of upside-down 'V's for legs. He wasn't going for quality but quantity. The more he had, the more he could control the storm system, but on the other side of the coin, each frost creation took a chunk out of his energy reserves. Normally, he wouldn't bother using the frost creations except for possibly one or two to help with larger systems, but he wasn't anywhere near the storm this time. The more energy he put forth now, the less cleanup that he would have to deal with later. As he finished each one, he summoned it from the glass to float around his feet. Spotting Tooth on the other side of the glass, Jack laughed and poked the glass in front of her nose, 'nipping' it and clouding her vision with thick frost.

"Ready Baby?" The fairy nodded and floated back for Jack to inspect her drawing. He nodded in approval; it was indeed a fine drawing of a curly-horned ram, better than Jack could have drawn. "Very nice. Now, there's a pocket on the right side of my vest on the inside. I want you to stay there so you can stay safe, ok?" Baby chirped and gave a salute before burrowing into Jack's clothing, crawling around until she was settled into the pocket. "You good now?" He felt a nod and patted over the lump in his vest gently before buttoning up his tailcoat for extra security. Hopefully everything was snug enough that he wouldn't have to worry about Baby being torn out of her perch by a powerful gust by Wind.

Absently summoning the ram, Jack looked at his flock of frost-sheep. As they were, they would only last a half hour, maybe an hour if they were lucky. Focusing his magic, Jack's eyes fluttered closed and he gripped his staff with both hands. With a sharp commanding whistle, Wind shot him straight up into the clouds, the flock following closely behind. He would use the local clouds to give the sheep more 'substance' so that they would last the journey to the storm system. Ice-lightening cracked through the clouds from his staff, outlining his and the flock's forms. Using his staff he pushed and prodded the sheep into the formation that they would need to take when they got to their destination, whistling sharp patterns like that of a shepherd to his sheepdog the entire time. It had taken until regaining his human memories for Jack to understand why he moved as he did to control the storm systems. While his mind had no idea of what he was doing, his body remembered the years of helping tend to the village's flock of sheep and the work involved. Satisfied that the frost sheep knew what they were doing, and had accumulated enough energy to last the trip, Jack summoned Wind with a sharp whistle only meant for her and off the flock flew.

Watching the flock leave, it took a moment to realize that all of Wind went with them and that he was falling, along with his remaining strength. His eyes fluttered shut and he curled up, his free hand resting protectively over Baby's pocket as he plummeted.

(0)

Inside, the guardians watched Jack as long as they could before he disappeared up into the clouds. Instead, they were content to watch the little girl skate her figure eight out of the corner of their eyes.

"Might as well get the rest of the gifts out of the way while we wait." Bunny shrugged, pulling out the last two baskets from under the tree. A purple and green basket went to Tooth with a selection of fresh fruits for the girls and a jar of sugar-free preserves for the Queen.

"Thank you, Bunny. But I really do think we should wait." Tooth said, picking through the basket anyway. Bunny shrugged, handing a yellow basket with only one (exceptionally large) egg to Sandy.

"Suit yourself, but there isn't anything else under the tree anyway."

"Ah, there is my gift for Jack." North piped up, checking under the tree one last time. "Oh-ho, what is this?" He pulled out four more gifts, beautifully wrapped.

"I thought you already gave him something, mate. That book." Bunny eyed the presents as well.

"Ah, yes, that was from me, but Birthday present." North waved his hand dismissively, "Very different. This is Christmas present, from _Santa_. For being on Nice list." The gift from 'Santa' wasn't actually wrapped, but had a satin bow tied around its' neck. Getting a good look at it, Bunny choked on a laugh.

"Is that," Bunny's ears were twitching in amusement, "A _yeti_?" It indeed was a small replica of a yeti, but with unique coloring with pale fur on the head, shoulders and torso, darkening to a light tan on the extremities.

"Yeti insisted." North turned the stuffed toy in his hands. "Was going to give him stuffed bunny," North gave Bunny a smirk, "made to look like little you."

"Oi, you trying to start a blue?" Bunny puffed up. Tooth stifled a giggle and exchanged a look with Sandy before taking the little yeti to inspect herself.

"I haven't seen this coloring on any of your yeti before." Tooth murmured, looking at its uniquely shaded blue eyes and the carefully embroidered loincloth before passing it to Sandy. Most of the yeti at the Pole didn't bother with any decorative clothing, unlike their Himalayan cousins.

"Da." North turned away from smirking at Bunny. "This one," North gently took the yeti from Sandy when he was finished taking his turn, "I have only seen once or twice. Was told that yeti with this color was only visiting." He poked the doll in the belly before running a finger over the square loincloth. He noticed absently that it was made out of white lambskin suede with a blue snowflake embroidered in a hexagon. "Was small and quiet, even for yeti." Passing the doll to Bunny, whom declined the urge to look closer, North settled it on Jack's chair. After a moment, he arranged the rest of Jack's gifts in the chair as well. The yeti was placed inside the basket, between Tooth's dental kit and Sandy's bag of sand, leaning against the large book of poetry to keep it upright.

"Is not enough." Frowning, North turned to the others. "Jack is child. This is not enough." He tried to breathe through the knot in his heart.

"No, it's not." Bunny agreed, staring into the fire. Sandy floated lower with a solemn expression.

"No." Tooth bit her lip, trying not to cry. "But that's what we have next year for, right?"

"And the year after that." Bunny nodded.

"And after that." North agreed. Sandy popped up a calendar, the years increasing quickly before the picture faded out. "Maybe we can make up for past mistakes, yes?"

Tooth nodded and opened her mouth to say something when the little girl in the corner exploded, sending blue sparkles everywhere. "Ah!" Flying to the window, Tooth managed to shoulder it open just in time to see Jack fall past the cliff edge. "JACK!" She didn't bother looking back to see if the others could follow.

Grunting, North looked out the window to see if he could jump out safely when he spotting a yeti with grey and tan fur carrying a blanket and a mountain-to-mountain arrow gun strapped to its back already trudging through the soft snow in the direction that Jack fell. "Sandy, follow Tooth. Bunny and I will prep the infirmary. Just in case." With that, the golden man flew after Tooth. Bunny was given no choice as North grabbed his upper arm and steered him out of the room.

(0)

The first thing that Jack noticed when he regained consciousness was that Baby Tooth was making a ruckus, chirping like someone had died. "Shh, Baby, I'm trying to sleep." Jack murmured, curling further on his side.

SPLAT!

Abruptly sitting up, Jack spat out the remnants of the snowball that had fallen on his face, trying to shake out the errant flakes that had found their way into his ear canal. "Ok, ok, I'm up! I'm… Ugh." Curling forward, Jack pressed his forehead to his knees. He was only vaguely sore, but not near the soreness that would have resulted from hitting ice. Or rocks. Or solid ground in general. Instead, he had somehow managed to aim his fall into the middle of a nice deep snow drift. Yay, and a 9.8 from the judges! Point-oh-two point penalty for losing consciousness upon dismount.

Managing to open his eyes, Jack was surrounded by blue and white. Yep, a deep snow drift, alright. Had to be at least a meter deep, maybe a meter and a half… or two. At least with it being in the middle of the arctic night, Jack didn't have to deal with the sun reflecting off the snow as well. Speaking of, Jack spotted streamers of golden sand float across the sky. Was it time for Sandy and Tooth to leave already? He didn't get to see them open their gifts! Not like they would know that they were from him, but still, he liked to see people's faces when they were surprised. "Jack! Where are you!" The voice was thin because of the distance, but it was easily recognizable.

All Jack could manage was a grunt upon recognizing Tooth's voice, not having enough energy to give a proper response. Baby, on the other hand, immediately zoomed out of the Jack-shaped hole in the snow and toward her mother, squealing the entire way. "Baby! There you are! Where's Jack?"

"Crud." Jack planted his face into his hands before blindly groping his way around to find his staff. Apparently, he had actually landed on it. So _that_ was the bruise he could feel running from his shoulder to his hip. That would be a fun one to explain. Not wanting to be mothered by Tooth (Phil would be bad enough, once the yeti-sized mother hen found out), Jack managed to stand up, his head barely higher than the edge of the snow bank. The next thing he knew, he was being hauled up by the back of his jacket. "Y'know Phil. We have _got_ to stop meeting like this." Jack stated, proud that he only wobbled a little as he was set on his feet. "Oh, hey Tooth… Sandy? You guys didn't have to come get me. I would have made it back… eventually."

Quickly patting Jack down for injuries, she held on to both of his arms, a moue on her face. "Jackson Overland Frost, don't _scare_ us like that!" She huffed, giving the boy a hug. "At least you weren't hurt."

"Uh, yeah." Jack nodded, managing not to wince. Yep, there was going to be a staff-shaped bruise there come morning. At least it wasn't the crook part. He'd had that happen before and it ended up looking, and feeling, worse than it actually was. While he had managed to convince Tooth, and thus Sandy, Phil was a harder sell. The yeti took his turn patting Jack down, carefully and thoroughly before wrapping the boy, without warning, in the blanket he had brought and handed the staff to Sandy. "Phil! Buddy, you don't have to do that." Phil snorted, promptly picking the Jack burrito up and making sure the blanket was tucked in a way that he couldn't move without Phil putting him down first. Grumbling something softly, Phil ran a soft hand over Jack's eyes, telling the boy to rest.

"Yeah, fine, but just until we get back inside." Jack acquiesced, turning his nose to be buried in Phil's fur and closing his eyes. He would just close his eyes for just… a…

Next thing that he knew, Phil was laying Jack on one of the infirmary beds. "Huh?" Phil chuckled, unwrapping Jack. "Oh, we're back." Phil nodded, pulling over some of the supplies that North and Bunny had pulled out while they were waiting. (Really, plaster strips for casts and a hot water bottle weren't necessary) Gesturing for Jack to remove his jacket, vest and blouse, the boy blushed. "Umm…" He looked around, spotting the other guardians. Tooth had a shawl wrapped around her shoulders as she talked to North. "Phil, I'm fine. I just used all my energy at once." The yeti bobbed his head, saying that he knew, and gestured once again for the clothing to come off.

"Yeti say that you needed checkup anyway." North called from across the room, as if he didn't know that already. Pulling a face, Jack sighed and hitched the blanket he had been wrapped firmly in higher on his shoulders. "What better than the present? Will be quick about it."

"Yeah, but do I need an audience too?" Jack was glad that his blush wasn't noticeable across the room. Over three hundred years of solitude hadn't changed his attitude from his colonial sense of propriety.

"We will not disturb you." North answered, oblivious.

"Tooth, you too Baby, could you, please, maybe, step out for a moment?" Jack didn't face them, but didn't hear them leave either. "Please? All of you. It'll go faster if I'm alone. I'll be back really soon, ok?" Finally, North got the hint after a look from the corner of Jack's eye and a tug from Sandy on his elbow. "Thanks." A moment later, the infirmary door clicked shut and Jack looked around to make sure that he and Phil were alone.

Reluctantly shedding everything from the belt up, Jack turned to let Phil see the developing bruise. The yeti gave Jack an unimpressed look and muttered something about how he shouldn't attempt to hide injuries anymore, that it was a bad habit around people you trusted. "It's only a bruise." Phil snorted, carefully prodding along the line, feeling knots developing in the muscle already and gently working them out. Grabbing two different paste jars, Phil applied one along the bruise to numb the area and keep the swelling down. The second, Jack gave a curious look. Soon enough, Phil switched to the second jar and let Jack get a good whiff. It had a mint and aloe smell to it. Gesturing to Jack's dominant arm and chest, Phil explained that it was a good burn ointment.

"Oh, this." Jack grimaced, figuring out that Phil was, in his own way, asking what happened to cause the inflamed pink streaks crossing his arm and chest that looked disturbingly like a series of handprints. "It was a couple of months ago. Apparently summer was supposed to run long this year and nobody saw fit to tell me about it." Jack shrugged, the fresh burn tissue crinkling and shining in its own unique way. "Don't worry about it. It's practically healed by now. See?" Phil didn't look impressed and slathered the burn ointment on the scar tissue anyway, giving Jack the jar with instructions to reapply once a day for the next week. He wanted Jack to come back when the jar was empty to see how the scars and bruises were fading.

"Yes, sir." Jack pouted, ducking his head. "Are we done now?" Phil snorted, lightly cuffing Jack on the head. Holding up a finger, Phil quickly checked Jack's back and shoulders for marks before handing the boy back his shirt.

Mid way through buttoning his shirt, Jamie's borrowed watch started chirping and both boy and yeti froze, staring at the other. Gesturing to the watch, Phil didn't need to ask. "I… think I'll stay with the guardians this year. I don't think I'd be much company down in the village anyway, sorry." Phil nodded his head in understanding, telling Jack that he'd give the others his apologies. "I just really want to see what the others think of my gifts, if they haven't been opened already." Biting his lip, Jack gave Phil an apologetic look, which was quickly waved off.

Asking if he'd be able to make it back up to the others on his own, Jack nodded, sliding from the bed. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Merry Christmas Phil." Phil nodded and gave Jack a soft smile before pressing their foreheads together gently. Jack pressed back briefly before stepping away. Waving the boy out the door, Phil said that he'd bring up Jack's gifts from the yeti after he cleaned up here. Jack's grin lasted the whole way back to the room.

"Jack! We did not know if you were going to join us again tonight!" North greeted, saluting the boy with a cookie. "How was checkup?"

Jack shrugged, curling up against the frosted over bay window. He was away from the fire, but he still had direct sight with most of the goings-on in the room. "The usual: I need to eat more, stop playing with the summer spirits because they don't play fair and get a flying partner that can actually catch me if I decide to jump off the top of a cloud again. You know- the same thing that Phil's always telling me." He said it in such a nonchalant way that Sandy had to think about what the boy said. He couldn't tell if Jack was telling tall tales or if that's what Phil really told the boy.

"Ah," North finally just let it slide with a nod, "Come, we still have gifts."

Shaking his head, Jack leaned against the glass and closed his eyes. "I'm good. You guys go ahead." The elder guardians exchanged looks, but couldn't say anything to get Jack to come closer. While the boy was out, they had spoken about the four mystery gifts, easily determining that they weren't from any of them, and the wrapping was too decorative for the Yeti's usual style. The only other option was that the gifts were actually from Jack. And in the off-chance that they weren't, they didn't want to upset the boy by opening gifts when he was obviously left out.

"If you are sure…" North gave Jack one more chance, then took up the smallest of the quartet of presents. "Sandy." The Sandman took the small box, immensely amused by the mass of curls literally taking over the present. He deftly removed the ribbons and plopped them on his head like a bad wig. The box itself was nearly impossible to open, with it being plastic foil wrap instead of the standard paper. And whoever had wrapped it had taped every. Single. Fold. and exposed edge down. He had no doubt that the box was practically rendered water, and sand, proof. And after a minute of scrabbling, Sandy finally managed to slip a nail under the tape's edge and pulled with an exclamation mark floating over his head. Finally, the box was unwrapped with a round of applause from his audience. Taking a small bow, Sandy was ecstatic to find that the box itself was not taped shut.

Jack hid a smirk while watching Sandy's progress, congratulating himself on the wrapping job. He made a mental note to wrap ALL his gifts in the plastic foil wrapping paper next year. Yeah, he liked the sound of next year. It had a promising ring to it.

Actually, that was a bell, now that he was paying attention.

Having opened the beautifully embroidered satchel, Sandy let out a question mark as he took out the small hand bell. Was this some sort of joke like the wrapping foil? Shaking it, he heard nothing and looking inside the bell itself, he expected it to be without a clapper, but was surprised to see a felt stopper wrapped around it instead. He easily removed the stopper, seeing that it was simple to slip back on and would stay in place, and gave the bell an experimental shake. Letting out an exclamation mark, Sandy was happy to find that the little golden bell was distinctly unique from the bells the elves wore on their hats. Looking closer, Sandy noticed that the bell was hand-pounded, not cast, and acid etched with little swirls and stars. The handle itself was white ceramic painted with a silver crescent moon and golden swirls of dots. The entire thing was perfect for Sandy's small hands to wield, and not too heavy. Blinking in satisfaction, he gladly passed it around for the others to look at the details.

"It's a beaut, mate." Bunny complimented, turning the delicate thing in his paws. "Jack, you want to take a gander?" Holding his hand up, Jack shook his head, content to watch. Nodding, Bunny handed it back to Sandy. "Suit yourself. North, who's next?"

Holding up the round box, North read the tag. "Me." With a nod, the others sat back to watch. This one was significantly easier to break into after removing the ribbon. Peering inside, North blinked in surprise. "Ah, a belt. I have been needing new one." He laughed, patting his belly before taking the belt from its resting place. The buckle was a simple silver design, polished to a high shine, but it was the leather itself that was special. What had started as a simple length of matte polished black leather was now tooled with several designs, and in the middle, the sleigh and reindeer, painted a metallic red, bronze and copper. Tooled holly bunches decorated most of the rest of the belt, painted in a dark metallic green and red as well. 'Naughty' and 'Nice' were burned into the leather over each hip, so that while the paint would fade with use and time, those two words would not. There were even stylized Christmas boxes, much like the tribal work on his tattoos, interspersed between the hollies.

With a shout of joy, North easily wrapped the belt around his cummerbund and showed it off. "I am knowing perfect place for belt! Will go with coat always! Will need belt loops on coat now, but does not matter. What do you think?"

"I think it looks wonderful." Tooth flew closer, admiring the subtle colors and the careful manipulation of the leather itself to make the pictures. She couldn't help but to glance over at Jack, who was hiding his smile under crossed arms propped on his knees. The boy was tired, but was enjoying the reaction from the others' gifts. If she wasn't sure before, she was now, that Jack had indeed made these wonderful items.

"Next is for Jack!" Plucking the stuffed yeti from Jack's pile of new gifts, North settled it next to Jack's hip. "Merry Christmas, from Santa. And _thank you_."

Jack's brows furrowed. "For what? And shouldn't I be the one saying thank you?" Taking up the yeti, he inspected it, recognizing the handiwork and the fur pattern. It was actual yeti fur, he absently noticed, running his thumb along an arm. "You already gave me a gift."

"Bah. Yes, but that was _birthday_ gift. This is _Christmas_ gift, from _Santa_, completely different! Is for being on Nice list." North said with a wide grin, crouching down to Jack's height and resting a hand on the boy's shoulder with a squeeze. "And for that, I should be thanking you. And for _this_." North whispered in the boy's ear with another shoulder squeeze before turning back to the others. "Bunny! Is your turn!" Taking up the rectangle, North shook it lightly, hearing movement. "Ah, I do not know if you can have it. Sounds broken, da?"

"Give it here, North." Bunny sighed, holding out a paw, tired of his eldest friend's antics. Eventually, North did hand it over, after a few good rattles to confirm that whatever it was, was well and truly broken. Snagging it from North's meaty grip, Bunny turned it in his paws, trying to figure out how to open it. Frowning lightly at the single Narcissus woven through the colorful threads, Bunny carefully removed it and set it aside. While it was indeed associated with spring, new beginnings and rebirth, it was also unlucky if there was only one present. While he appreciated the sentiment of the flower itself, Bunny hoped that Jack didn't mean ill will when he picked the flower. Knowing the galah, he probably just thought it was pretty and 'spring-like'.

Turning the box over one more time, hoping that it'd reveal the secrets to being opened, Bunny finally decided to pick at the largest knot. It slipped undone surprisingly quickly, loosening all the threads so that he could slip the box itself free. Setting the colorful string aside, Aster gleefully tore through the paper, like should be done properly to such a gift. Trying to save the paper was just a waste of time in his opinion. Popping open the box revealed… another box, carefully nestled in tissue paper.

"Ah…" Bunny hummed, taking the wooden box out carefully and pushing the spent wrapping aside. The sides and bottom were sanded buttery smooth and only a light lacquer was applied, only enough that there wouldn't be any worry that splinters would peel off over time. The box itself was dovetailed at the corners, exhibiting the carver's skill and the two shades of blonde wood used. The lid itself slid smoothly from the cut grooves and secured shut with a small click. A low relief carving was the only decoration on the box, but the detail was astounding. Each hair on the small bunny was visible, every petal of the aster flower rounded to buttery softness and each of the three eggs as detailed as some of his most prized hand-painted googies. "That's adorable." He murmured with a cheesy half-smirk, tracing the bunny's ear with a delicate claw.

Finally opening the box to find out what had been rattling around inside, Bunny was gobsmacked to find four brand new brushes. Taking the largest one out, he inspected it carefully, running a paw pad over the bristles and testing the ferrule that held them to the handle. Finding the important part to his standard, Bunny finally took in the detail on the handle. It was carved as well, but was covered with thick layers of clear sealant so that he couldn't feel any of the details he could see. This was good, it meant that paint couldn't work its way into the cracks either, making it easier to wipe off. Each of the handles had a different design, from a stack of painted googies, to a vine wrapped around the handle, to several asters, to the last one simply being a tall, skinny rabbit with ears that literally took up half the handle's length. "Oh, ha ha." He said dryly, holding up the bunny brush and 'hopping' it slightly, earning snickers around the room.

"Ta," Bunny carefully spoke to the room in general. "I've been thinking of replacing some of my brushes and these should do in a pinch." It wasn't an outright 'thank you', but it wasn't a rejection either, so Jack could take it. He was worried, with how closely Bunny was inspecting his gift, that it would end up rejected. Brushes weren't his usual project when he decided to take up the chisel. Not to mention getting the bristles to work how they were supposed to was a minor miracle in itself. Let alone acquiring the hairs themselves was a nightmare in and of itself. That boar would never look at him in the same way ever again.

"AAH!" Tooth screeched, snapping Jack's attention back to the present; just in time to watch Tooth drop her present back into the box like it burned her.

"Tooth, what is matter?"

"I-I can't take this." She stuttered with wide eyes, shaking her head. "North, I can't."

"What do you mean, 'can't'?" Bunny asked, leaning forward on the couch in surprise.

"Its too beautiful. This can't be for me." Dry-washing her hand, she didn't feel Jack's stare of panic, but Sandy did and turned to watch the boy, whom was already half-off his seat and ready to escape.

"Of course you can." North objected, grabbing the box lid and checking the tag to make sure. "Says 'To Tooth'. Right here." He held up the broach with the tag attached for everyone to see. "Take it." North said with a gentle smile, his eyes flashing briefly over to Jack.

Finally mustering up her courage, Tooth ran a finger over the delicate embroidery along the collar before finally pulling it fully from the box. "It really is too beautiful, North. I don't want to damage it." Indeed it was beautiful. It was a robe of some sort in lavender chiffon, or some other material that felt like it would float away on its own if not for the embroidery weighing it down. The edges were hand-rolled to a little over a thread's breadth and sewn with golden thread. Beside that was a border of a chain of life-sized molars rendered in gold thread. Looking closer, occasionally, there was even a 'filled cavity' rendered in silver thread. All over the body of the robe were outlines of teeth in all varieties, connected with a continuous running stitch. Each tooth was about five centimeters long, so the design didn't overwhelm the entire garment.

The gentle tinkling of a bell drew the guardian's attention to Sandy, who signed that Tooth should try the robe on. "Ah, yes, is rule, is it not?" North nodded with sage importance, "when clothing is given, must be worn at least once!"

Biting her lip, Tooth nodded, holding the robe delicately, still afraid to damage it. "Ah, yes, of course." Turning to Jack, Tooth caught him mid-escape, halfway across the room. "Jack, can you do a favor, and help me put this on?" She asked gently, politely ignoring his skittish movements.

"Uh…"

"Yes, come help. Maybe you can show us how this goes?" North encouraged, giving Jack no chance to actually leave.

"I, uh, was actually going to check on the elves, yes, the elves! And… and see if they were going to bring any more… cookies…?" His excuse was weak and he knew it. Slumping, he walked over to the others and quietly received the robe from Tooth, helping her land so that she could dress. Undoing the small catch on the mandarin collar and unthreading the ties on the front, Jack carefully helped Tooth thread her wings into the hole designed into the back. Now that it was on, she noticed that the entire robe wasn't lavender, but was dyed so that the end of the bell sleeves and the trailing ends of the robe faded to the same green as her feathers.

Now able to see the design clearly, the robe was designed with a collared choli blouse in mind. The front was closed with a mandarin collar with a long and narrow keyhole which stopped over Tooth's bust line. It was secured shut by a ribbon tied through six small hand-sewn green eyelets, allowing the rest of the fabric to drape gracefully open in front, exposing her belly. A doubled-over strip of chiffon was sewn into the garment, directly under her bust and wrapped around the back, securing the top snugly. In the back, the fabric draped loosely from the band to about her hip in a solid piece, before separating out into individual thin strips, much like her tail feathers. Down the middle of each strip was embroidered a single peacock feather that was so realistic, it looked like it had been plucked straight from the bird itself. The embroidered feather gave each strip just enough weight that they weren't fluttering around needlessly, but weren't heavy enough to get tangled in Tooth's feathers while she flew.

The collar and sleeves also had a matching peacock feather motif. The collar had an 'eye' on either side of the clasp, with the rest of the feather winding around to meet in the back. While the sleeves held a handful of embroidered feathers each, with the 'eye' of the feather pointing down and the end of the shaft stopping somewhere between Tooth's bicep and elbow.

Carefully threading green silk ribbon through the series of eyelets, Jack couldn't help but murmur that he was glad that it fit. He was worried that it would fit badly, or that Tooth wouldn't like it. He still was. "Thank you Jack," Tooth smiled and gave the teen a hug. "It's absolutely stunning." Taking flight, Tooth twirled around a few times, showing off her new robe. It was so light that she barely noticed the rub on her feathers. In fact, the only places she could actually feel anything was the beautiful collar around her neck and the band under her small bust, and even those barely felt like anything. If she wasn't careful, she could easily forget she was wearing the beautiful item and damage it somehow.

Shaking his head and stepping back, Jack looked away. "Don't thank me, Tooth."

Hovering in front of the frost child, Tooth took Jack's face in both of her hands and gently turned him to look. "I love it, Jack. I mean it." Speaking softly, she gave Jack a peck on the forehead. "So thank you."

Snorting, Bunny hopped over and bopped Jack on the head. "Yeah, Ta, Frostbite. Yer not completely useless after all."

Ducking out of Tooth's grasp, Jack absently ruffled his hair back into place and sat back in his window seat, taking up the stuffed yeti and fiddling with it, hiding his face the best he could without his hoodie. Watching the boy retreat into himself more than he had in months, Bunny walked over and absently tapped on the glass where there now was a sheep-shaped blank spot in the frost. "You've been holding out on us, eh Frostbite."

Shrugging, Jack fumbled the white yeti in his hands. "Dunno what you're talking about."

"This," Bunny tapped the window, then gestured toward the others, "That. Everything."

Giving the yeti a small smile and holding it close, Jack looked up with his cocky mask on. "Well, you didn't ask."

"What were we supposed to ask, '_name your five best talents'_?"

Jack shrugged at Bunny's snark and gave a half grin, "Snowballs, fun-times, snow days, freezing water pipes and _messing with your egg hunts_." He ticked off a finger for each item, enjoying the way Bunny's ears started to twitch in annoyance.

"Then what do you call this?"

Looking at his frost drawings, Jack realized that he was sitting closest to Baby Tooth's ram drawing- or what was left of it. "Fun." He said simply, shrugging one shoulder absently.

Bunny looked at Jack from the corner of his eye before taking a closer look at the remnants of the sheep, weighing his next sentience. Either it would push the boy away or draw him back out from his shell. Yep, they still looked like marshmallow clouds with a couple of sticks sticking out of the bottom. "You can't draw worth shit though."

"Hey!" Bunny had to hide a grin as Jack took the bait. "You try drawing on a window with only your fingers and let's see how detailed you can get!"

"I bet you can't paint either." Bunny stuck is nose up, crossing his arms.

"Is that a challenge, Cottontail?"

"Yep," Bunny popped his 'p' with a smirk, "scared?"

That had got him. Rolling up onto his knees, Jack was closer to Bunny's height. "Fine, I'll prove that I can paint. Anytime, anywhere."

"Oh? Any time, eh?" Bunny tilted his head to the side, pretending to roll the idea around in his head. "You know… Easter's coming up mighty soon. Plenty of opportunity there." Jack was so caught up that he didn't notice what Bunny had done. Inviting someone to come paint Easter eggs was just something he did. Not. Do. Unless it was an emergency like the Pitch debacle several years past. But this, this was for the sake of fun.

"Fine."

"Fine." Bunny nodded, pleased with himself. "Lookin' forward to it, mate."

"Did Bunny just…" Tooth hovered by North's shoulder, her eyes wide in shock.

"Da, he did." The Russian's arms were crossed, impressed with Bunny's technique.

"Ah." Now that the show was over, Tooth went back to her perch, where Sandy handed over her mug of cider. "Then I propose a toast then." She waited until she had her boys' attention and at least North had a drink in hand. "To the New Year and all of the years to come. That we continue to grow, thrive and learn more about each other every year."

"And Happy Christmas!" North called out, hoisting his mug.

"Happy Christmas!" The Guardians echoed.

(0)

Ever get to that point where you go 'what now'? I swear, the tension was so thick, I couldn't cut though it with my knife of words! Gah! So, yeah, bad cliché ending. I just want this thing DONE and OVER with. Time to move on to another story.


	4. Chapter 4

Closing the door behind him, Jack slumped against it briefly before moving across the room to his wardrobe. His. Nobody else's. Filled with clothes and trinkets that North had given him, alongside odds and ends that he had gathered the past few years. The room itself was more than he had ever expected or hoped for. It was huge, with its own glass dome roof and fireplace in one corner. North had told him that it was the old observatory, before the workshop had expanded once again to accommodate the amount of room needed to make toys for the world's children.

Just too tired to travel after North's Christmas celebration, Jack finally took up the offer to stay the night. So he wouldn't feel alone, Bunnymund had taken up the offer as well, though Tooth and Sandy declined, citing that they had spent enough time away from work as is. Even if none of the others had left yet, Jack left the elder four to talk amongst themselves. He knew it was a hobby of theirs, to talk about him just as much as they talked to him. While it usually irked him, there was only so much he could do about it, as long as nobody was getting hurt.

Rifling through the wardrobe, Jack finally settled on the least outrageously patterned pajama pants and quickly shed his stuffy 'winter shepherd' uniform. He didn't care about the trousers and vest getting wrinkled as he tossed them to the floor. If he asked nicely, it was more than likely he could get one of the yeti down in fabrics to give the outfit a quick wrinkle-release steam bath.

Nearly tripping, Jack shoved his legs into dark blue pants with yellow stars printed all over it. The material felt silky to the touch, but the inside felt more like cotton. They were light enough that he wouldn't overheat, but the hems were slightly too long for his taste.

Deeming hunting for a top to at least somewhat-match the pants too much effort, Jack half-floated, half stumbled to the alcove that held his 'floating' bed. The bed itself was a gift from all the guardians working together, apparently. It was a two-meter wide shallow basket, woven like a nest, with ropes and wicker bleached white and hung from a trio of thicker ropes. The 'mattress' was a giant pillow that lined the entire basket, with an entire platoon of various sized and colored pillows and blankets artfully arranged on top. It was the result of a series of unfortunate conversations that he and the guardians had had soon after the Pitch fiasco. While the alcove originally hosted a traditional four poster bed, Jack had explained that it just didn't feel 'right'. It had been both too exposed and too claustrophobic for his tastes. And after trying out several styles of bed, he discovered that he loved the feeling of a nest of some sort the best, where he could burrow or lay on top as the mood struck. The hanging ropes had been a stroke of insight from Sandy halfway through building their little project. In his years of observing the boy, it seemed like Jack ended up sleeping in elevated places more often than not, letting the sway of branches (or the occasional power line) lull him to sleep.

Landing face-down on his floating nest, Jack nearly smacked into a hardness that didn't belong in his pile of softness. Letting out a noise that could only be a verbal question mark, Jack flailed his arm around until he found the hardness and pulled it closer to inspect. Without opening his eyes, he could feel a rougher material compared to his pillows, in an odd shape that he couldn't quite put his finger on. And… was that a strap? A handle? Uh?

Finally opening his eyes, he realized that it was a backpack that he was groping around. "Oh. Phil." He grunted, sitting up properly. The yeti had told him that he would bring up Jack's gifts from the other yeti earlier, but he hadn't expected Phil to leave them on his bed. Oh, well, the better to be found, he guessed. Turning on his bedside lamp, Jack hissed at the sudden light, as low as it actually was, trying to blink the spots away from his vision. Sometimes having superior night vision was a bad thing.

Groping his way around the bag, Jack finally found a zipper, opening the great beast of a backpack, which was packed full to capacity with various small items. The first thing he dug for, and the one thing that he was pretty much guaranteed ever since the first year that he had met the yeti while trying to sneak into the pole, was the orange. Humming in happiness, Jack finally pulled out the baggie, tucked safely in one of the small side pockets. One piece before bed wouldn't hurt anything, Jack nodded to himself, opening the baggie and popping a piece into his mouth with a sinful noise.

These weren't normal oranges, though Jack loved those just as much, but candied ones. Sometimes they were dipped in chocolate, but nothing beat the strips of orange peel, candied carefully and slowly to create the perfect texture between fruit leather and jelly. What was in the baggie equaled an entire orange, and most definitely wasn't of the smaller variety, and he savored every. Single. Piece. Slowly sucking on the one piece he allowed himself, Jack carefully tucked the baggie away for safe keeping before exploring the rest of the bag.

There were the usual jars of preserves and various other provisions that he had come to expect in the main section, easily enough to last several months with his bird-like diet, though the others had been trying to get him to eat more for years now. A secondary pocket half as large as the main one held supplies for his first aid and sewing kits, as well as other smaller necessities not food-related. In the small side pockets were items that were purely gifts. A small sketchbook/notebook and pencils, a beautifully crafted bookmark. Some carved beads that felt like either horn or antler. A brightly painted leather rattle the size of his fist. A small bone dagger with writing on the side and finally a rolled up piece of bleached leather, wrapped in matching thick leather thongs.

Tilting his head to the side, Jack absently repacked the bag with his usual gifts, leaving his more… unique ones splayed out on the blanket. Looking at the leather rattle first, Jack gave a small smile as he twisted it between his fingers and it made a 'tok-tok' noise. It reminded him of the small traditional instruments that he'd seen practically everywhere. It was a small drum on a stick with two beads hanging off of the sides of the drum. The drum heads were painted with a variety of symbols, while the wooden handle and drum base were blue. He thought it was cute and several games immediately came to mind using the new toy.

Next, he picked up the dagger and inspected it closer. For a yeti-made weapon, it was truly tiny. The handle was barely big enough for his hand, with a flare at the end, cradling a polished blue and white stone. The bone the handle was made from was bleached snow-white and a blue cord matching the stone was wrapped around it for grip. The blade was only slightly longer than the handle, with a dramatic curve mid-way down that made it look like a claw. It wasn't a heavy-duty knife, but it would be good for cutting plants and a last-resort defensive weapon. With a sigh, Jack absently twirled the knife in his hands. This wasn't the first time that the yeti had given him a weapon, and like he would with this one, he usually gave them back to Phil with the gentle reminder that his staff was more than enough. Then again, most of those weapons had been yeti-sized and unwieldy with his smaller frame. "Oh-ho, what's this?" He stopped flipping the blade and actually looked at the side. He was still learning to read the yeti language, but he could still recognize one or two runes, including the ones that formed his name.

Sucking on his teeth, Jack sighed. There was no giving back this knife, it had his name on it. "You win this round. Congrats." Just because he would keep it, didn't mean he would keep it on him. Tossing it onto his side table, he turned to the handful of beads. Now _these_ were interesting.

The handful of beads varied in size, from the size of a large grape to about the size of a currant. He had seen similar beads braided into yeti fur on special occasions, like the two weeks that the Claussen Yeti had vacation, or a holiday. The Himalayan yeti actually wore beads and hip aprons year around, but it was impractical for a workshop environment. Grinning, Jack inspected a grape-sized bead with curling lines carved into it and dyed blue-black. Phil had been wearing a matching pair of similar beads at the ends of his mustache. For a yeti, Phil was extremely conservative, even when dressing up. Jack had seen (and helped) several yeti, especially the younger, unmated ones, sport a whole variety of beads in hopes to attract attention.

Absently fingering his hair, Jack mused on some of the smaller beads. A change in hair style might be called for, especially since there was one that looked like it was made of cracked glass with a blue tint that only shone in the correct light. It really was only a matter of thought, but he was too tired to do anything with magic at the moment. He had sported the same hair style since he had come up from the ice. While it was never a terribly bad cut, it was boring. He wondered if North had ever been gifted any beads from the Yeti. If he had, it would be a matter of asking to get the older guardian to wear some. Slipping the beads into a corner of his drawer, Jack resolved to hunt down a ribbon or something to keep the rest of the beads safe in the morning.

Finally turning to the roll of leather, Jack carefully unwound the leather thongs, finding that they were attached to the rest of the roll. The leather itself was butter-soft and bleached to an off-white that just seemed to fit. He didn't know why, but he held the leather, keeping it rolled up, apprehensive to look at what the item actually was. He knew the yeti, they would never make a sub-par gift, but that's wasn't what he was afraid of. He had the feeling that whatever this was, it was important. It was strange enough that he had gifts that were strictly yeti-made for other yeti and not just the human-focused gifts that he usually got. A pen or a new book was something that he was expecting. Sometimes a knife, but that almost always was from Phil or his mate. The drum and beads, yes, he had touched similar items before, but only because a yeti youth had given them to him to hold. It was so strange to actually own something similar now. Taking a breath, Jack carefully unrolled the leather.

Gasping, it only took him a moment to realize what he was holding. The drum, the beads, the knife... the stuffed yeti toy from North, and now this. Running his hands over the delicate embroidery, Jack could feel the ice forming as tears slid down his cheeks, creating a shimmering path. A giant hexagon in blue was the center piece, framed in a square with small pictures around the border. While most of the picture squares were still bare, he could recognize a wolf's head in one, then a series of Norse runes, a snowflake, matryoshka doll, Easter egg, a bird feather and, in one corner, what Jack recognized as Phil's clan symbol. Jack could feel his throat closing up as he looked at the brand new apron. As far as he knew, not even North had been given an apron. This was more than a simple gift. This was, this was...

Jack choked, curling up on himself, clutching the apron to his heart. It didn't matter that he was squishing the leather and that frozen tears were dropping in among his pillows and yeti-fur blankets. This was more than becoming a guardian and earning a meaning to his long existence. This was... this was family. A home, people that wanted him. This was...

Permanent.

Sure, with joining the Guardians, Jack was now welcomed into a circle that very few were included in, but even after half a decade, Jack still didn't quite know where he stood with the others. He joked and fought with Bunny, traded stories with Sandy, played games with Tooth and Baby and helped North around the Workshop, but it was strained. The others felt so comfortable around each other, had stories and jokes that they would fall into at the drop of a hat. They had a _history_ together.

And then the Man in the Moon, without saying anything to Jack, told them to include him as well. Where was that three hundred years ago, or even a hundred years ago? Jack still felt as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the Guardians to tell him to get lost, that he was only needed to defeat Pitch. He knew that they were trying, that he was trying, but it was hard to ignore three hundred years of being ignored at best, attacked for ruining a holiday as worst.

The yeti though, for as long as Jack had attempted to enter Santoff Claussen, he had known the yeti. Sure, the first attempts were a bit shaky, what with being thrown out of whatever window or door was closest about a hundred times, but that was the past. He had found the yeti village below the Workshop and discovered that while sneaking into the Workshop got him chucked out a window, he was more tolerated in the village proper. And the Yeti pups could see him! Jack grinned at the memory of the first time that he had pelted a yeti youth in the back of the head, only to have a larger, and more compact, snowball thrown right back!

Later, he would come to find out that the youth that he had pelted was the only pup of the yeti that seemed to catch and kick him out of the Workshop the most often. He and Tanner (as Jack called him, unable to pronounce the pup's yetish name at the time) had become fast friends. Soon enough, he had been invited into Phil and Sarah's home and just... never really left. That had been over two and a half centuries ago.

* * *

Knocking gently on the boy's door, Sandy listened for a moment, not hearing a response. Jack wasn't asleep, or he wouldn't have bothered knocking, but he wasn't awake enough to respond. The door barely creaked when Sandy pushed it open, just enough to peek in. Looking in, he spotted Jack, shirtless and already in bed, so he smiled. Looking closer, he realized that something was wrong. It wasn't the steady breathing of peace, but the shaking shoulders of something having gone wrong. '!?' Sandy floated into Jack's room, quietly closing the door behind himself. 'Snowflake?' he signed, though Jack couldn't see from where he was curled up, his arms wrapped around his stomach and head nearly touching his knees. Holding his hand up, Sandy wasn't quite sure whether to touch Jack to try to snap him out of whatever he was reacting to or...

What was this? A scrap of leather peeked out from between Jack's arms. Finally making up his mind, Sandy took the exposed corner and tugged gently, getting Jack's attention.

"Hm? Oh," Jack turned to the tugging and gave a watery smile, alarming Sandy even more. "Hey Sandy. Getting ready to go?" Jack uncurled, absently wiping the tears from his face.

Sandy nodded, signing that he wanted to check in on Jack first. 'Teardrop? Zzz?'

"Its nothing, Sandy. I guess I'm more tired than I thought." Sandy nodded, but tugged on the white piece of leather that Jack was absently petting. "Phil gave-" Jack shook his head and started again. "Phil dropped off the presents from the other yeti and this was one of them." Jack explained, spreading the apron out on the pillow for the elder guardian to look at.

'!' Sandy's eyes went wide, knowing exactly what this apron was. 'snowflake, yeti, party hat, snowflake, house?'

Shrugging, Jack rolled the apron up properly, making sure that the leather thongs didn't get twisted as he wrapped them around the apron. "I... don't know."

'Snowflake, smiley face, house, yeti?' Jack gave a small smile, but didn't say anything. He didn't have to for Sandy to understand. 'Smiley face, teardrop.' Jack nodded and Sandy smiled back. Holding up a ball of dreamsand in question, Jack finally settled down, curling up in the nest and pulling one of the blankets over his hip. Unexpectedly, Jack then pulled Sandy closer like an overstuffed teddy bear and closed his eyes.

"Thank you." With a sweet smile, Sandy ran his fingers through Jack's hair, casting his dreamsand to work on the young spirit. Immediately, the boy fell asleep, his arms falling lax around Sandy's waist. For a moment, Sandy just sat there, watching Jack sleep and combing his frosted white hair.

Not even North had been given an apron in all the years that he had known the yeti. Not even from Yaloo when it seemed like the two were growing close. Aprons were... they were special. Yeti were very socially-oriented creatures, very much like humans, but had very little sense of individual ownership. Weapons, tools, and even most decorations like beads and leather bands belonged to the whole community. An apron, on the other hand, was a gift, and anything attached to said apron was sacred to the yeti it was gifted to. They, and a small knife, was usually given to a yeti youth when they started their journey to adulthood. As they aged, symbols representing accomplishments or events were added to tell a whole story. From the glance that he had seen, the apron had been started several years ago, even though it was just now given to Jack.

Carefully, Sandy wiggled out of Jack's grip and placed the apron roll on the side table. Ah, and there was the knife. Sandy smiled. On the side of it the word 'storm bringer' was written, how apropos. Floating the large bag that Sandy assumed was from Phil the yeti onto the floor, he placed it next to the side table and out of the way. Carefully untangling the blanket from under Jack, he tucked the boy in properly. More than likely he was going to throw it off in his sleep, but it was the thought that counted.

Looking around, Sandy grinned, spotting the small pile of gifts from the others. Pulling out the stuffed yeti, Sandy looked at it, and back to Jack before nodding. It made sense, really, now that he had more pieces of the puzzle. Likely the stuffed yeti had been made with Phil and his mate's fur and bleached to match Jack's hair better. If Jack were to ever be a yeti, he would look like this doll. If he remembered correctly, it was a common practice, just like human parents making a baby blanket, for an expecting yeti couple to make a soft toy out of their own fur to soothe the child when it was born. While Jack wasn't that young, it was the sentiment that counted. Tucking the stuffed yeti into Jack's arms, the boy smiled in his sleep, pulling the toy closer and burying his nose in it. If that wasn't the sweetest and most telling sight ever, Sandy would give all his eggnog to the elves for a year.

When Jack's dreams started, Sandy couldn't help but to smile. A snowball fight, of course. It looked very similar to the fight they had immediately after defeating Pitch, though there were more yeti than had been there originally. Jack wasn't a yeti himself, but it didn't seem to matter. The toy worked how it was supposed to anyway. Happy that his work was done here, he slipped out of Jack's skylight, leaving the window cracked just enough to make the boy comfortable.

What Sandy didn't see was the Jack in the dreams turn into the yeti that he was holding in his arms and hug dream Phil and his mate.


	5. Chapter 5

"What was that?" Aster asked himself, adjusting the bracer on his right arm absently, his ears twitching as they attempted to catch the sound. It was too early for North to be up, especially after his yearly walkabout the previous day. Straining his ears, he heard the susurrus of footsteps that were too light to be the yeti and too steady to be one of the elves.

Tooth? No, Aster shook his head. She had gone back to the Tooth Palace the previous night, right before Aster had retired for the night. Besides, why would she be walking around instead of flying?

Curious, he pressed his ear to the thick oak door, pinpointing which direction the footsteps were heading before opening the door to take a peek. Making sure that the steps were heading away, Aster cracked the door and looked around.

Blinking in surprise, Aster watched Jack walk down the hall, a nervous set to his back, staff nowhere to be found. Instead, Jack had what looked like a large scroll clutched in one hand. He had an unkempt appearance, like he had just rolled out of the nest, and started walking.

Which brought up the question, as Aster silently followed the sprite, did Jack sleepwalk? He had yet to see the boy actually sleep before, so it was a possibility. If nothing else, the old, stained shirt he wore would be good for little else.

If he was sleep walking, Jack's body knew exactly where it was going as they walked directly to the side door the yeti used instead of the main gate. The few yeti that Jack did encounter gave the boy a curious look and waved him by. If any words were exchanged, distance and general workshop noise (as little as there was, being the days between Christmas and New Years) swallowed it up.

The hard part now- Aster counted to fifteen before sneaking out the same gate- was not to be spotted against the stark background of the icy cliff side as he scanned his surroundings to find where the boy went.

Not in the air, he shook his head, belatedly remembering that Jack couldn't fly without his staff. On the ground, then. Aster scanned the surrounding drifts, quickly enough spotting the boy. He must have jumped some of the switchbacks, since he was already half a kilometer down the cliff side and almost to the yeti village.

Resigned that he (once again) forgot his great coat and determined to see this through, Aster mentally apologized to his frozen toes and took off. Cautious, he ducked behind every drift he could find, keeping one eye on the slick path, and the other on the ice spirit.

Quickly enough, Jack made it to the edge of the village, where he was greeted by at least a dozen half-grown kits that had no qualms about piling on the poor boy. Aster winced, hearing the dull whump as the entire group fell into a re-frozen snow bank. He had been tackled by an overenthusiastic kit like that once _once!_ and had ended up in traction for a week. At that age, the kits didn't know their own strength. And Jack had just been dog piled by a dozen of them.

Holding his breath, Aster pushed aside stealth and stood tall, ears erect, torn between just staying where he was or going to rescue the flattened guardian. At least, that was until Jack's distinctive laughter floated up the hill. Easily shoving the young yeti aside, Jack sat up, shaking snow from his hair.

"Bloody Hell," Aster couldn't help but grin in relief, settling back onto his haunches, "Give a bloke a coronary, why don't you?" Eventually, one of the adults took mercy and pulled Jack the rest of the way out of the pile by his arm. At his distance, Jack looked like a spider monkey among the yeti, especially by clinging to the adult's arm to stay out of the kits' eager reach.

Carefully, the yeti who rescued Jack put the boy down, away from the roughhousing kits, and bushed the rest of the snow off before pointing in the direction of the center of the village. A large bonfire and trestle tables were set up for the holiday season, yeti coming and going, setting up for their own festivities. Nodding in thanks, Jack wandered in that general direction, talking a few words to whatever yeti decided to stop him.

Deciding that discretion was still the better plan, Aster stayed above the village to watch, instead of heading to the interior. The last thing he needed was for a yeti to spot him and alert Jack that he had been followed. Not after sneaking after the boy this far and freezing his tail to sate his curiosity. Finding a good spot to hide that had a good view of the pseudo village square, Aster settled in to wait.

It wasn't long until the yeti Aster had come to recognize as Phil came out of the woodwork to confront Jack. Standing tall, Jack held out the scroll for Phil to take. Phil shook his head, gently pushing the scroll back toward Jack. The boy nodded, twisting the item between his fists like he did his staff.

Quickly growing bored, Aster watched as they apparently talked. The boy's body language didn't give anything away, whether good or bad, and neither did the yeti. Then again, like their language of what seemed to be grunt-and-point, he never bothered to learn the nuances of their body language either. It seemed like forever after before either boy or beast moved, but when they did, it seemed like an entire flurry of activity sprung to life. And it all started with a hug.

In a blink, Jack launched himself at Phil and clung like a limpet. The Joy was so thick in the air, he could feel it on his tongue like a fine chocolate. It quickly spread, like things are wont to do, to the other yeti. The beasts surrounded the hugging duo, to the point that Aster nearly missed what happened next.

Putting the boy down, Phil carefully unrolled the scroll and... tied it around Jack's waist? Amid the cheers of the entire yeti village.

Frustrated and wanting to know what was going on, Aster dared to venture closer. All he could tell from the crush of bodies was that the scroll wasn't so much parchment as a fabric of some sort. In fact, it looked vaguely like the apron that Jack's toy yeti wore. Though the ribbons were long enough that they wrapped around Jack's thin waist one, two, nearly three times, complete with a large bow in the back. And the apron itself fell to Jack's knees, wrapping a good portion around his hips. Overall, it looked like a ridiculous skirt.

"...Thanks anyway, but I promised North I would have breakfast with him and the others before I leave."

"Strewth." Aster muttered, diving behind a snow back just as Jack turned toward his direction.

"Yeah." Jack Laughed, "I know, I'll be careful. I was planning on sticking to the fruit anyway." Hearing Jack come closer, Aster huddled further behind the drift, wishing that the ice was thinner so he could simply disappear down one of his tunnels.

With a laugh and a wave, Jack launched a good handful of meters up the hill in a simple stride. It wasn't true flight, but Jack was heading in the right direction for not needing his staff.

In the next moment, Aster was plucked from the snow by the scruff. Twisting just enough to see his captor, Aster gave a very Jack-like look. "'Ello, Mate. Mind putting me down?" The yeti, Phil, he realized, rolled his eyes and did what Bunny asked, brushing snow from the smaller spirit's fur.

Phil crossed his arms and gave Aster a parent's look, to which Aster scoffed, though his ears fell back. "Ah was curious. Frostbite was actin' strange and I had ev'ry right ta be concerned."

After a moment, Phil nodded and growled something out, pointing back to the main workshop. "Grrl, Bn'ni." Phil attempted English, to which Bunny gave a blank look. "Cod'd," Phil pointed to the workshop again.

Looking between Phil's fat finger and the warm, inviting workshop, Aster cringed. "Yeah, I'll just... go now." Aster muttered, watching Jack disappear into the side door. Nodding, Phil gave Aster a small push, nearly sending the pooka head-first into the snow bank.

Without the need to be stealthy, Aster took the short way to the main doors and bolted to the nearest fireplace. Hopefully he would be thawed by the time they met up for breakfast.

* * *

"Bunny!" North called, waving the pooka over to the large breakfast spread. "You are late! Comfortable beds, are they not?" North waggled a brow, to which Aster snorted.

"For you, maybe. I had to wake up early to work the kinks out'a my back. Sleep on something like that too often and I'll get fat and lazy."

"Bah, you all need more meat on your bones. Especially you, Jack. You're too skinny!"

Jack stuck out his tongue, absently licking a drop of orange juice from his wrist, In the few minutes since he had seen the boy last, Jack had managed to get dressed in the blue waistcoat and pristine white shirt he had worn for the Christmas party. The blue tailcoat was tossed carelessly over the high back of his chair and his staff was still nowhere to be seen.

"Either way," North clapped, not getting an actual response from the boys, and gestured to an empty chair. "Come, eat. Do not be shy! Toothie and Sandy should be here any minute."

"Yeah, about that," Jack finished his orange and stood up, slinging his tailcoat on and fished... something out of his pocket. "Tell them sorry that I couldn't stick around, but I promised Jamie I'd visit. That," with a peculiar twist of his wrist, Jack was suddenly holding his staff, "And the last of my sheep clouds popped a few minutes ago. I have to check on that system first."

"What happened to that infamous 'snowballs and fun-times' of yours? Sounds like work to me." Aster couldn't help but to poke, earning a smirk in response.

"I don't know about you, Mr. Hard Work and Deadlines, but what's the point of all the work if its not fun? Can't have snowballs without a proper storm first! Besides, Mother'll have my head if I don't deal with that storm soon."

"Mother?"

"Yeah," Jack shrugged, half turning away, "Mother." And with that, he was off through an opened window and tossed on the breeze like an errant ribbon.

Not five minutes later, Tooth flew in the same window. Looking around, she gave a small frown, "Jack?"

"Gone." North gave a helpless look. "Said he had work."

"Oh." Tooth nodded, still upset, to which Bunny scoffed. "He couldn't wait? I was hoping we could have breakfast together." She understood, especially after some of the stories that Baby Tooth had told her, but that didn't make it better. She was hoping that Jack would stay the entire time, but that he had stayed as long as he had was its own gift.

"Hey, North?" Aster spoke up as soon as the last yeti had finished setting out breakfast plates and left the room. "What's with Jack and the yeti? He was out back, talkin' to them this morning." With the expression that crossed North's face, Aster's ears wilted slightly. "Yah... have no clue what I'm talking 'bout, do ya?"

North shook his head. "I will talk to Phil about it later. I found out recently that he was, ah, the one who... _dealt_ with Jack the most in the past. Pre-guardian days." The trio shared a grimace.

"Best not to, North. Best leave it lie if you don't know already."

Waving a hand, North absently agreed with Aster. For now. He had been meaning to talk to the yeti Jack had apparently dubbed Phil. He, along with a number of other yeti were oddly... protective when it came to the young spirit.

"That's strange, what would the yeti want with Jack?"

"More like the other way around, Tooth." Aster tried to explain, "Y'know that yeti stuffie that Jack got yesterday, with the white fur and that apron?" Aster waited until he got a confirmation from the younger two. "'Parently they gave him a yeti-sized apron as well."

"That was nice of them," Tooth exclaimed politely, "but wouldn't that be a bit big for him? What do you think North? _North_?"

The Russian had frozen, fork half way to his mouth. It would be more than a small talk with the yeti, if he had any say in this. Losing his appetite, North dropped his fork and pushed his mostly-full plate away with mutterings to excuse himself.

Within two steps, Tooth flew over and touched North's elbow, "Was it something I said?"

"Yeah, talk to us, mate. What's got your knickers in a bunch all of a sudden?"

"Bunny, I do not wear knickers. нет," North sighed, "Is Jack. And yeti." North grasped his hands, searching for the correct word. "They are close."

"But I thought they were just keeping an eye one him."

"To keep him out of trouble," Aster nodded at Tooth in agreement.

"нет," North dismissed with a wave, "Jack has free passage, the same as you and Sandy." He motioned to both guardians in the room. "Even has own room. Why would I tell yeti to watch Jack?"

Unnoticed by the others, Sandy had slipped into the room and tucked into his own meal. Being made of stardust, he didn't need to eat, but how was he to say no to North's pastries? Trying to follow along with the conversation, little question marks peppered the air over his head, along with the odd snowflake or two. _Jack? Was he in trouble? Sick? Was that why he wasn't at breakfast? _He wasn't asleep at least. He would have sensed that and made sure to send the boy good dreams. At the very least, he was conscious, so that was a good thing.

Fed up with being ignored and concerned over Jack's welfare, Sandy remembered Jack's present from the previous night and pulled the stopper.

In he middle of the more verbal guardians' heated conversation, an insistent bell started to ring until their eyes fell onto the shortest guardian. "Sandy, when did you get in?" North asked, which was promptly ignored for Sandy to ask his own question. It only consisted of two symbols: a snowflake and a band-aid. "нет, No." North waved off. It was a common enough question that no further clarification was needed. "Jack was speaking with yeti this morning. We think it is because of gifts."

"Apparently one of them gave Jack and apron, but I really don't..." Sandy cut off Aster, practically glowing with his wide grin. A flurry of symbols popped up and burst like fireworks over his head, including Jack's snowflake, a house, dolphin, drum toy, three humanoids, a collection of small ball-like objects, a knife, yeti, and an entire burst of confetti squiggles. It culminated in Jack's snowflake floating over his head with a happy face over one hand and a sad face over the other.

"Er, yeah." From Bunny's expression, he hadn't caught everything Sandy had said, "Whatever it was, Jackie seemed happy about it."

That seemed to make Sandy happy, because next they knew, the sleepy man was bright-eyed and dancing around like one of the elves, a party hat balanced on his hair and a sand-made noisemaker between his lips.

"Sandy, mate, mind explaining to the rest of the class?" To which Sandy nodded eagerly. Carefully, Sandy formed Jack's visage, then two yeti, one of which had their hand on Jack's shoulder. Last, a simple roof over the three beings' heads.

"Yeti are adopting Jack." North spoke soberly, a dark, almost mournful, look in his eyes.

"That's wonderful, Jack loves Phil." Tooth chirped before catching North's pained expression. "North...? You wanted to adopt Jack first." It was a statement more than a question as Tooth sunk to the floor. "I'm so sorry."

Taking a deep breath, North shook his head. "Boy will be happy with yeti."

Sandy heartily agreed, pages in a calendar flipping backwards. _It was a long time coming._ The few times he had been able to talk to Jack in his pre-guardian days, the boy had seemed brighter when he mentioned the Pole. Sandy had assumed that Jack had been taken in by North and Jack had never bothered to correct him. But that had been quickly changed as soon as he had seen how the two had interacted. A firm hand was not how to comfort such a flighty spirit as Jack was, without the risk of said spirit flying off and disappearing.

Granted, their interactions had improved with efforts on both their parts, but he could see the fine tension lines that still circled Jack's eyes when the others got too loud. He covered it well, matching the others' presences with action, but only for so long without a distraction of some sort. North, on his part, made a conscious effort to restrain his gregarious behavior, with limited success. North was a very tactile man, using hugs and touches to connect with those around him. Jack was... Not. He would accept hugs only after getting over the shock of being touched, then dance out of touching range for the next few minutes. 300 years of touch-abuse and starvation took time to scar over. That Jack allowed even these small touches was a minor miracle in itself.

The yeti in general, on the other hand were more illustrative with their affections. Quiet gestures and small gifts. Allowing Jack to initiate contact, and only on his terms. Overall, the yeti really were better for Jack. Maybe, eventually, North would be accepted into Jack's inner circle, but until then North and Jack had plenty to learn about each other.

With sympathetic eyes, Sandy patted North's knee, throwing up a simple clock. _Give it time._

Aster nodded in agreement. "Patience, Mate." Sandy shrugged _close enough_, "At least Jackie'll be close by if something happens."

"Or in Himalayas." North muttered petulantly.

"The point is, North, is that Jack won't be alone anymore." North opened his mouth to protest, but Tooth cut him off. "And if he does go to the Himalayan tribe, I'll personally show him how to get into Punjam Hy Loo. It'll be closer than coming up here in an emergency, anyway." And as far as she was concerned, that was the end of that conversation. They should be happy for Jack. Ultimately, it was none of their business what Jack did in his life. "Now sit down and let's finish this wonderful breakfast that the yeti didn't have to prepare for us, but did anyway. It is their vacation as well."

The Queen had spoken. Nodding mulishly, North sat back down eying the spot set specifically for Jack. All that remained of the boy were a few crumbs of toast and the remains of an orange. Odd, considering that the orange had been the only piece of fresh fruit set out. Mostly the guardians' Boxer Day feast consisted of rich pastries and filling breakfast foodstuffs that even Tooth allowed herself to indulge in once a year. (Which promptly was followed by the Guardians' annual dental check-up.) Thinking about it, he realized that he had never actually seen Jack eat anything of any significance, let alone anything shared among the others. No wonder the boy was almost unnaturally thin. Pursing his lips, North silently vowed to get Jack to eat at least a healthy amount of food. Even if he never did gain weight to a healthy level, the boy didn't need to starve in their presence.


End file.
